


Level Up!

by teddybearcello, WhisperingShadowLullabies



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Kingdom Hearts, Supernatural, Wings of Fire - Tui T. Sutherland
Genre: Crack, F/M, M/M, Minor Violence, Multi, Sexy Times, its a good time though, this is cowrote between my friend and I and its a goddamn disaster, we probably took the lore a little too seriously for a crack fic but yanno
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-01
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-06-02 09:24:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19438567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teddybearcello/pseuds/teddybearcello, https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhisperingShadowLullabies/pseuds/WhisperingShadowLullabies
Summary: A long time ago, a group of Keyblade wielders and masters alike traveled down to a world of dragons and gathered their treasures for safe keeping. A thousand or so years later among the four nations, a dumbass group of humans and a hopeful group of Benders set out on a quest to locate The Avatar (again) and find their journey expands to appease dragons and earn back their treasures in order to save the world!





	1. Chapter 1: KH

**Author's Note:**

> wowowow look at this freeking disaster xD if you clicked on this that means you either you have too much time on your hands or something about the tags and description generally interested you (if the latter, I have so many questions for you tbh)  
> anyways this is a story that my friend (of a long timeeeee) and I started writing for fun forever ago~ it's a mess and super cringe (but not as cringe as the other story you will find on her page we wrote from like 2015) but it's really fun to write and dick around with while I'm working on other stuff :)  
> Heres their ages:  
> SPN:  
> (32) Sam  
> (36) Dean  
> (34) Cas  
> Avatar:  
> (15) Aang  
> (18) Sokka  
> (17) Katara  
> (19) Zuko  
> KH:  
> (20) Sora  
> (21) Riku  
> (20) Kairi  
> (25) Lea  
> (20) Roxas  
> (20) Xion  
> ~KH chapters will be using the map of Pyrrhia from Wings of Fire, while SPN and Avatar chapters will be using the Avatar map~

_~1000 years ago, 5 years after kh3 and any following games. The Destiny and Sea Salt trios have retired to the Land of Departure. It has been a few years since then.~_

It was perpetually daytime in the Land of Departure, which definitely had its pros and cons. For example, Sora did love to nap in the tinted patches of light that fell through the cathedral windows. But, it was incredibly disorienting when there wasn’t a night time- meaning that every time he fell asleep it felt like a nap. Sometimes it was better though; like right now. Sora was currently nestled quite nicely between his two bestest friends on some of the softest blankets and pillows in all the worlds. Riku had his arm wrapped around Sora’s middle hugging him tightly in sleep and Kairi had managed to curl his hands into hers and pull them inwards towards her chest. Her hair shined an almost magenta in the ever-present midday light. It was never a bad day to wake up to that sight, or the long silver strands of Riku. 

He contemplated going back to sleep, but there was something nagging at him that prevented him from simply falling back into it. Everything began and ended with hearts when it came to Sora, so when his heart gave a lurching pull for the first time in years, he had to resist the full body shudder that was threatening to happen. That, of course, only left moments before the arm around his waist tightened more.

“Sora, what’s wrong?” The voice from behind him was deepened with sleep, but the concern was still there. There hadn’t been anything that had made Sora’s whole body tense up like that for a long time. 

“I- don’t know,” Sora carefully pulled his hands from Kairi’s and rolled onto his back to turn and look at Riku. There was worry swimming in the deep sea green teal of his eyes and Sora couldn’t look for long. “I woke up and it felt like someone had hooked a line on my heart and gave a tug.” Riku slowly pulled his arm back before resting his palm on Sora’s chest. 

“Did it hurt?” Sora was quick to shake his head.

“No, it was more curious- wanting really. Like I have something to find.” Riku hummed and moved to card his fingers through the brown spikes that somehow always maintained shape. 

“Strange. I thought we didn’t have anything left to seek after all these years.” Sora let out a huff of laughter and pushed Riku’s prodding hand away. 

“We don’t know if its been _years-_ for all we know no time could have passed at all!” Sora threw his arms up and Riku was quick to shoosh him, as the red head to his left was still fast asleep.

“Well, we aren’t in the Realm of Sleep any longer and this world isn’t asleep either. So even if the magic of this world keeps our body clocks from ticking that doesn’t mean the worlds around us didn’t keep spinning.” Sora nodded a little.

“I guess that’s true. But we haven’t explored much of this world, have we? For all we know it’s not even the world itself- it could just be the castle!” Riku nodded and pushed himself up. 

“Considering even Master Aqua doesn’t know, we need to start figuring out how to fly on this world to find out.” Sora moved to get up with him, reaching for the offered hand-up. 

“That- sounds like an awesome plan! But first… Breakfast!”

“It could be dinner for all you know.”

“Well maybe I want it to be breakfast!”

“Are you making pancakes?” 

The two startled at the third voice coming sleepily from the floor. Kairi rubbed the sand from her eyes and grinned at them. Their laughter bounced off the tall gold and cream halls of the castle as they made their way to the makeshift kitchen. Sora trailed his fingers along the repeating gold patterns of the walls and hummed happily to himself. The tugging feeling was still there, but with how twisting and changing the rooms of the castle still were even after Aqua released her magic on it, the tugging changed direction every few feet or so. He made the collective decision to ignore it for the time. After all, they had a whole hell of a lot of it after defeating Master Xehanort and restoring all the worlds (with a small minor reapers game thrown in every now and again-) Even after the Master of Masters and everything that happened with that. As much as the Destiny and Sea Salt trios offered to the worlds, it was unanimous among the other masters to simply let them retire to the Land of Departure for as long as they pleased, fairing no incidents occurred. 

Sometimes King Mickey or Master Aqua or Terra would send letters noting that the worlds were still safe and that the number of Keyblade Wielders grew each day. The letters of course never alluded to if time had passed for the Wayfinder trio or not, but that was the funny thing about being a Wielder of the Keyblade. Ansem the Wise had once said that it was possible a wielder would remain young for as long as they were needed to protect the worlds by the magic of the Keyblade. Perhaps the castle wasn’t enchanted at all, but they themselves were the enchanted ones. 

Sora indeed made pancakes to apologize for waking Kairi up and they were enjoying them fully when Lea made an appearance at the scent of maple syrup, quickly followed by Roxas and Xion. Soon the kitchen was filled with rambunctious noise as they all happily munched. It wasn’t long before Lea choked on a pancake and started smacking Roxas violently for help. Roxas, for all his spunk, got the wrong message.

“Oh yeah, right- thanks for reminding me Lea! We found something in the castle that you guys might wanna check out! It was kinda hidden and probably wouldn’t have found it if Xion hadn’t started making us follow her around while she wandered aimlessly. But anyways-” Roxas was cut off as Lea flailed and fell out of his chair. Kairi seemed to be the only one quick to action while they all laughed hysterically, choosing to body slam him in the stomach. Several hacks later, he was climbing back up onto his chair and glaring at Roxas.

“You will pay for that later! Get that memorized, you asshole!” Roxas had the decency to look a little sheepish while Lea coughed a few more times. 

“Mm! I found the room while I was looking for somewhere that would be small enough for small creatures to hide for completely unrelated reasons. By accident mind you, but there’s a small library with some boring scrolls and in the back corner behind a tiny stool there was a hidden emblem. I smacked my shin on the darn thing and then noticed the impression. We were just going to take a picture like usual, but it looked funny and when I pressed it, a locked drawer on the bookcase shot open and there was a weird scroll inside!” Roxas nodded excitedly.

“We didn’t touch it or anything, but I think we should see what’s inside! Could be something cool-”

“Or something lame.”

“Shut the fuck up-”

“Make me short-stack!”

“Guys! Hate-fuck in your own time!” The redhead and blond sputtered at Xion’s words and made fast to jump away from each other. Sora had to giggle at the flushed complexions they were sporting. He would have probably taken to making fun of them on any other day, but this mysterious scroll had caught his attention. His heart pinged again at the thought of it and he didn’t repress the shutter this time. Riku’s hand on his arm brought him back to the present and he looked at him with urgency.

“We need to get to that scroll.” Though Kairi had missed the conversation from that morning, she didn’t hesitate to give a strong nod along with Riku and Sora. 

Everyone finished their impromptu pancakes before quickly making their way to the small library. Riku was the only one of the six that regularly visited all of the libraries that were littered around the castle. Sora had no idea what he got out of reading all of those dusty old things. Kairi had read any books or scrolls that she deemed useful when she took the Mark of Mastery exam, but stopped going after that. Riku always used it against Sora, saying that that was the reason that he hadn’t passed yet, but Sora wasn’t convinced that _reading_ was going to help him pass that stupid rigged test. He didn’t need a some test to tell him he was a master- he knew it. Though, it didn’t hurt that he had the two people he loved most in the world, who were by title, whisper into his skin late at night that he was one. 

It was pretty obvious that this scroll was what had awoken Sora this morning. He hadn’t realized how tense he was until Kairi and Riku looped their arms with his to calm him down. If the other three thought anything of it, they didn’t say. There was a moment where they reached the scroll itself and no one moved. It wasn’t until Roxas let out an exasperated sigh and grabbed it. Thankfully, nothing happened. The castle didn’t implode. Sora’s heart didn’t go shooting out of his chest. All good signs. The seal on the scroll itself was nothing special either, just pressed wax with what appeared to be a broken circle. 

“Shall we?” Roxas’ raised eyebrow did nothing to deter the group that was far to interested in what could be inside. He made move to open it, but Lea was quick to stop him.

“Let’s let one of the _Masters_ open it. Not that I don’t trust you, but if it’s going to blow up in anyone’s face, let’s have it be Riku’s.” That remark earned a glare from said master.

“He _is_ unfairly attractive-” Riku snatched the scroll out of Lea’s hand and turned his glare to his partners nobody turned somebody. It only took one look at Kairi before her and Sora tugged Riku down to their level to peck his cheeks on either side. He chose to ignore them and focused on opening the scroll without damaging it, dutifully ignoring his flaming face as well. 

It broke easily enough and they all leaned back until they were sure it wasn’t going to explode, before crowding around the silver-haired male. What was written on the scroll was… unexpected to say the least. They all six stared in confusion at the lengthy descriptions and detailed drawings of _Dragons._

“Within The Land of Departure, we are not the sole owners, nor were we the first. Before us came the Dragons. Though most are peaceful, this land, this world- belongs to them. There are many breeds, more than we know most likely, but there are a core seven and three others that we know of,” Riku paused while they all looked at the different sketches. 

They seemed to be sorted by elemental, though some were more specific than others. Dragons of the earth, like Mud and Sand wings. Of the water, like Rain, Sea, and Ice wings. Sky and Night. Most peculiar were the three types outside of the core seven; Silk, Hive and Leaf wings. Beside their drawings were descriptions of size, coloration, and other jargon that Sora had no interest in reading right now (or ever if he was honest) His eyes were quick to follow to the rest of the text. 

“Seven core dragons… good things come in sets of seven, huh.” Roxas snorted quietly at Lea’s comment and the others had to roll their eyes- even if he _was_ right. Riku gave him a look before continuing on,

“Each Type has a kingdom ruled by their Queen and it took no time to branch our peoples to each of the kingdoms to ask for cohabitation and guidance. This record will be hidden such if disaster befalls us for few are wielders, therefore we depart the castle to learn in trade of the Dragon’s majik. Perhaps there will come a day where new wielders will venture here, to The Land of Departure. That they will come to ground below this castle, to the Kingdoms, to the Nations, to welcome and perchance partake in learning what we will have been taught.”

Sora’s eyes grew with excitement and the tugging in his heart changed direction once again; this time pointing down. He wasted no time grabbing onto Riku’s arm, bouncing slightly.

“Canwego? Pleasepleaseplease Riku? Can we go see the dragons? Lea? Roxas? Xion, Kairi?” The following carefully removed Sora from his counterparts arm and ruffled his hair. Roxas was starting to eagerly nod, much to Sora’s delight.

“Dude fucking _dragons_ of course we’re going to go!” The eldest of trios shook his head in exasperation, his hair flying every which way like a wayward flame. 

“Slow down there you two. Just how exactly are we going to get down there? And even then, we don’t even know where we are in relation to all of this.” He was met with matching pouts only solidifying the pair in their likeness.

“Lea’s right. There isn’t magic fairy dust here and I don’t think it’s safe to try and glide down to somewhere we can’t see.” Riku spoke with conviction as he rolled the scroll back up and placed it off to the side for later. Even at Sora’s rather excessive, “Riiiiiiiikuuuuuuuuuu!” he only crossed his arms and stuck firm.

“Perhaps that’s why the scroll was locked away…” Xion’s voice was quiet in the still air of the library. 

“How do you figure?” Lea was fast to question the younger, who seemed startled, as though she hadn’t meant to say it out loud. 

“Well, whoever wrote the scroll was obviously a Keyblade Master, so maybe they hid the scroll so that only other Masters and Wielders would be able to find it; they would be the only ones with hearts strong enough to have the courage to follow.” The group fell silent as they pondered her worlds. The ticking of an unfound clock was the only sound in the small room. Sora felt another pull downwards and his body tingled in anticipation

“Let your heart be your guiding key.” They all startled slightly at his words and suddenly it was like the tension had shattered. All members relaxed and grinned at the old masters phrase. Sora beamed at them. “We may be years older than when we started our journeys, but that doesn’t mean they have to end! Sometimes all it takes is a leap of faith! It’s our job as Wielders and Masters alike to go and discover this world, to insure its safety if nothing else- if we happen to run into dragons along the way, well… it wouldn’t be the worst thing that could happen!” Various levels of laughter fell upon the group and Sora got several approving head nods at his words. He didn’t hide his blush when Kairi leaned close to whisper in his ear,

“A Master in all but name.” His face only heated more when Riku inched down to quietly say into his other ear, 

“We’ll follow you anywhere; your heart usually knows what’s best.” Sora covered his face with his hands.

“Stop it guys- I’m gunna pass out!” They both laughed as Roxas and Lea made gagging noises in the background, before Xion elbowed them both with more strength than was necessary. With more nods of approval they set off to their rooms in the castle to pack various items for the drop. They could have easily have chosen to wait, figure out a plan or scour the castle for supplies, but there was a feeling in the air. Of excitement and a longing for adventure. They hadn’t done anything of this nature in a while. 

Soon enough they had all made their way outside of the castle walls and onto the stone-laden path to the edge. It was such a pretty sight; the rock spires that encompassed the sky around the main island, trimmed in gold and only held close by single glittering chains. They were high enough that the clouds passed at their feet and hid the supposed land below. So many afternoons were spent laying on the soft and lush grass of the front garden. Others spent sparing or games of tag across the grand stone mosaic of the centre. 

Sora always felt this way before he embarked on a new adventure, even if he knew he would be back soon. He figured it was why his heart was so strong. Filled with happy memories of all of the places he had gone, people he met. And it made him overjoyed to start a new journey to find new places and make more friends. 

On his right, Kairi held his hand and Riku’s. On his left Roxas held on to him and Xion, who held onto Lea. A ragtag group for sure, but they had been through it all together and they would do it all over again if it meant they would have moments like this; the sun beating on their faces, a cool breeze fluttering by. Nothing but the prospect of something new on the invisible horizon. Sora let out a hoot of ecstatic proportions and yelled as loud as he could,

“On three! One! Two!”

“Three!” 

With a chorus of shouts and a bound they were gliding off the cliff face, through the clouds and towards the mysterious land of dragons and forgotten wielders below.


	2. Chapter 2: SPN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yall are crazy for clickin on this shit for sure XD but anyways here's Teddy's chapter! For those of you who are here for Avatar- sorry that's next weeks chapter :b   
> Ages:  
> (32) Sam  
> (36) Dean  
> (34) Cas  
> Avatar:   
> (15) Aang   
> (18) Sokka  
> (17) Katara  
> (19) Zuko  
> KH:   
> (20) Sora  
> (21) Riku  
> (20) Kairi  
> (25) Lea  
> (20) Roxas  
> (20) Xion  
> ~KH chapters will be using the map of Pyrrhia from Wings of Fire, while SPN and Avatar chapters will be using the Avatar map~

_~1000 years later~_

Sam could hear the howling behind him. His breathing was getting raspy and the wound in his side made his head spin, but he had to keep going. The sharp knife points of the trees were slapping at his body scratching his face. Pushing with his blood stained hands, he screamed through the darkness which blinded him. 

_ Where is Dean  _

"DEAN!” Shouting would draw them closer, but he had to try. Something as simple as a small werewolf den shouldn’t have escalated like this- they were experienced god damn it- but based on the information they had gathered for the case it had seemed like a smaller den. Oh, how wrong they had been. What should have been a den of 5 became a den of 8 and based on the amount of shots he’d heard, Dean was out of bullets.

“SAMMY!” The sound of his brother filled him with joy helping to push him ever onward. Seeing his brother leaning against the outside of a rundown metal shack made him smile in relief. He seemed relatively unharmed aside from a medium sized gash on his arm. Dean gave him a stern look, but he was smiling. 

“Where are the bullets lil’ brother? let’s end these mother fuckers!” Dean grabbed a colt.45 from his waistline and tossed it to Sam, who’s gun had been badly damaged earlier.

Sam expertly grabbed the large silver slugs from his bag and placed them in the cool chamber; the click was satisfying. Hardly sparing the growl from inside any thought, he spun towards the entrance and boldly fired- BANG BANG BANG- three shots into the torso of the werewolf and, groaning, the beast collapsed onto the dusty floorboards. Bleeding out on the ground the beast murmured something half coherent. 

“Dean, wait, I think he's saying something.” Sam rushed in to the fallen creature, leaning close to try and hear its words. Though his eyes had rolled back and the hand that had been clutching at the wound had grown weak, words tumbled out from behind his pointed canines. 

“Fuck that, leave it! Our job is done here. It’s time to set fire to this whole goddamn infestation. ” Dean had already turned to go and retrieve the gasoline from the car, leaving Sam to desperately try and hear what the creature was trying to say with his dying breath. 

“Gharlah salaasheem Swoowie ze heilo grrrr _ -” _

“What is it saying?” Sam desperately wanted to understand, but sadly it sounded like it was a language he didn’t immediately know, despite his studies. “What are you saying, I didn’t hear you!“ He leaned in closer, but with a whimper and a heavy sigh, the creature lay still. Sam pulled out a notebook and scribbled out roughly what he thought he heard. Dean returned and rolled his eyes. He made quick work of splashing the gasoline around. Standing up Sam brushed the dirt off of his jeans and turned to help Dean when something caught his eye. 

A desk was shoved into the corner of the room, the moonlight streaming in the small window near. A corkboard was hung crookedly on the other wall, but whatever had been hung on it had since been torn down and ripped to shreds. Various papers were scattered on top of the desk, most having illegible writing and badly drawn sketches that Sam couldn’t quite figure out. He bent down to pick up a crumpled paper that was sticking out of one of the drawers. On the parchment was a simplistic and oddly clean drawing of an arrow. He picked it up put it in his bag to study later and moved to help Dean, silently thinking; determined to figure out this new mystery. They finished up quickly, moving the bodies in from the forest and lighting the shack up before making their way back to the impala. 

“Come on big guy, let’s get back to the bunker talk to boss man Cas!” 

“He’s only ‘boss man Cas’ to you. Please don’t rope me into your guy’s weird sex things.” Dean punched Sam in the arm and Sam only laughed. He would no doubt pay for that comment later, but it was worth it. 

The ride back was thankfully uneventful and was spent blocking out Dean’s questionable taste in music. He had wrapped his arm up hastily with the few supplies they had in the car, but thankfully it wasn't bleeding everywhere anymore. It didn’t take long to make it back to the bunker and soon enough they were locking up and taking their bags inside. The boys walked down the metal staircase to see Castiel eating a pb&j sandwich at the table at the bottom. He looked unsurprisingly at their arrival but glad to see them, though Sam suspected he was more excited to see his brother. 

Turning to them Castiel spoke clearly, “Hello Sam, Dean. How are things? Did you clear the den?” He looked questionably at the blood soaked patch covering Dean's arm. Pointedly ignoring him, Dean strutted over to the fridge and hungrily grabbed a slice of banana creme pie that he saved for this particular mission. He sat down heavily at the table, leaning slightly into Castiel. Sam shook his head at their ridiculousness. 

“Yeah, we just ambushed them and Sam got the leader.” He forked a bite of pie and smiled, satisfied. Sam came to sit as well and handed his notebook over, presenting to Cas the scrawled words. 

_?_ _Garla salasheem Swoowii_ _ce heelo *grrr* ? Ancient language?_

Castiel looked at the phrase, confused. “If that is written out like it sounds, as I’m assuming, then I believe that it’s a very old language that will not be in any of your books. I don’t know what it says, however I’m fairly sure it’s about finding something.” He took the page to study it closer, “What is this? Who said this?” Dean and Sam shared a glance.

“What’s with that shit? What’s some random werewolf in the middle of the forest doing speaking in ancient languages?” Dean said grumpily. Sam shrugged. 

“Unfortunately, I cannot translate it completely, for the one who I knew who spoke it, I have not seen nor heard from in a long time.” Cas looked equally as troubled, before Sam remembered the other paper he had found.

“Oh also Cas, I found this.” Sam quickly pulled the parchment from his bag and handed it to Castiel. Looking at it he frowned, 

“This looks like something I’ve seen back home. This is a symbol from the same ancient language of that friend I knew.” Cas stood up quickly knocking the chair back he yelled, “If news of him is circling again, we have to find him before anyone else does!” 

“Who Cas? Who do we have to find? And how exactly are we gonna find him?” Sam was growing nervous and concerned. Castiel was always calm by nature and neither Sam nor Dean had ever seen him this upset in the time they had known him. Whoever this person was, they were clearly very important. The brothers frowned simultaneously. Dean wished that he could have gathered more information about Cas’s past, especially since they had gotten together officially, but every time he tried to get anything out of him he stayed tight lipped. All he could get was Cas was somehow definitely not from the Earth Nation. It bothered him beyond belief that he didn’t know, now more than ever because now it was relevant. It didn't help that they had stayed out of the war as well, so they didn't know much about any of that either.   


“We have to locate my old friend, and with this parchment I can, but I need to grab some ingredients for a spell. I will go do some research and be back in a few hours.” And with that Castiel stood before them no more. Forking the last few bites of pie into his mouth, Dean grabbed the parchment. Looking at it angrily, he stared in bewilderment as the blue arrow began to glow.


	3. Chapter 3: Avatar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hayooooooo Teddy and I super wrote this chapter together just because I don't know as much about Avatar as she does lol but its here finally! the Avatar chapter! this is the last of the main fandoms, so from now on they'll be switching between KH SPN and Avatar :b as always enjoy!   
> SPN:  
> (32) Sam  
> (36) Dean  
> (34) Cas  
> Avatar:  
> (15) Aang  
> (18) Sokka  
> (17) Katara  
> (19) Zuko  
> KH:  
> (20) Sora  
> (21) Riku  
> (20) Kairi  
> (25) Lea  
> (20) Roxas  
> (20) Xion  
> ~KH chapters will be using the map of Pyrrhia from Wings of Fire, while SPN and Avatar chapters will be using the Avatar map~

Sitting on the edge of a crystal blue lagoon, Katara closed her eyes and felt the swimming life in the water. With a gentle flick of her wrist, a large fish flopped onto the ground next to her. She sighed, happy that she was still skilled despite not having Aang to push her. She picked up her lunch, silently thanking it for giving its life to her when her thoughts were interrupted by a loud crashing coming from the woods. Katara threw down the fish and stood her ground, ready for whatever was coming. As the sound grew closer Katara's heart raced. She quickly bended droplets of water vapor in the air into shards ready to rain down onto her assailant. She yelled as a figure broke through the trees, but stopped her ice shards before they could hit their target. 

“Excuse you! After I worked so hard to collect these fruits and wholesome nuts you try and kill me? No thanks necessary.” Sokka stood looking mildly offended at his sister, opening his hands to reveal and assortment of what looked to mostly be poisonous berries and a few semi-edible nuts.

“You know after all the time we’ve spent in the woods, I would have expected you to be able to tell the poisonous plants from the ones that aren't.” Katara giggled and went to grab the fish she caught from where it was lying by the bank. “Here, I caught this for us. You’re better at making fire, so I was waiting for you to get back.”

“Um, yeah! I knew that! That’s why I totally got logs and sticks and stuff. On a unrelated note- I’ll be right back-” Sokka turned and ran back into the woods at a breakneck speed. Katara could only shake her head at her brothers ridiculous antics. Considering that the woods are made out of wood, she gave him the benefit of the doubt and sat back down. 

She ran her hand lazily through the water at the bank of the lagoon. The water was freezing, but that was to be expected in the cold climate of the southern water tribe. They were all older now, the age of peace brought about by their battles and sacrifice. Katara had received a letter recently from Zuko with updates of how the rebuilds were progressing among the Fire Nation under his rule. It had been almost three years since he had taken over and although it would take many more to undo such deep rooted superiority, the other nations were beginning to not look towards them with such distaste. 

The train of thought brought a frown to Katara’s face. It was part of the reason that her and her brother were here, at the very edge, past the last remaining signs of civilization and past the far east snowy forests. Aang had gone to return to what was left of the southern air temple a year after the battle, looking for particular teachings that Zuko had mentioned were lost to the Fire nation, and likely the Earth and Water tribes as well. Katara and Sokka could not follow, as they were needed for the Southern Water Tribe’s relief efforts, and Aang seemed slightly uneasy bringing them to his fallen temple as well. The last letter he had sent had been almost a year after that, claiming that he had to go in search of the knowledge somewhere else and not to worry about him too much. But another year had passed since then, and Katara and her brother were starting to worry quite a lot. 

No Nation had heard nor seen of Aang whatsoever in the three years following the battle, many of the non-benders in the nations questioning if there had ever been an legendary Airbender at all. Any non-bender you asked scoffed at the notion; an Airbender that had been asleep for a hundred years randomly woke up, became the avatar, defeated King Ozai and then disappeared again- many just assumed that Zuko had done his part and overtaken the throne. Katara wanted to bash Aang’s head in for leaving so suddenly, but she did get it. People were expecting a lot from him and he was still only 15. She hoped that whatever he was looking for was worth all this trouble. (The teachings themselves neither Aang nor Zuko would say what they were exactly, but that they were important to the future of all benders.)

As it stands, Sokka had had enough of simply waiting around for Aang to return and declared that they would find him themselves. They were needed less and less these days in terms of political matters and when simply stating they were off to re-find the Avatar once again, no one batted an eye at their leave. They were currently camped on the east side, steadily crafting a canoe that was hardy and large enough to carry them across the ocean, through the borders and into the Earth Nation. 

The only clue that they had was from one of the letters that had mentioned something along the lines of  _ “Jade is such a lovely stone don’t you think? I wonder if there will be lots where I’m going!”  _ It could mean nothing at all, Jade was explicitly common and located through all Nations. But for all his dimwits, Sokka had chosen a rather intelligent woman to become enamored with, and Suki was quick to point out that perhaps Aang was headed to the Jade Mountains. They had been renamed many times over, but hidden in the plain text of some of the ancient scrolls of the Earth Nation depicting the region, namesaked it as such. 

It was the only shot they had at finding Aang right now and they were certainly going to take it. That and Katara was sure that Sokka wanted to see his girlfriend badly. It made her wonder where she would go after they found Aang again. Strangely enough, even after all that had happened, the first place her mind went to was the Fire Nation.

Though this place lacked snow and felt foreign being so far out, it reminded her the way her village used to be; small, simple. Katara missed her old life, when there was nothing but the peacefulness of the morning with the sun just breaking the horizon. The quiet sounds of children laughing and their mothers slowly rising to began the morning chores. The memory of a fishing trip with her brother, his laughing face as he splashed her with icy cold water-

Her warm memories of her icy home were cut short as Sokka came crashing through the tree line. Tripping on a rock he came crashing onto his face throwing a decent sized pile of logs at her feet. She couldn’t help but burst out laughing as Sokka lay on the ground smiling in embarrassment. Sokka would never change. He would always be the same innocent boy she always knew, pure of heart always bringing a smile to her face.

“See! I told you I got wood for a fire! Now where’s the food?” Giggling, Katara walked over to the ice cube she had formed around the fish. She revered the solid ice back to its liquid form and handed the fish to Sokka who had already started building the frame and base for a fire.

“Ya know Katara. I miss Aang, he annoyed me like all the time, but with him it kind of felt like I had a purpose and we were a unit. I feel like everything is different. I can't wait till we find him again! He’s probably getting so caught up in learning everything he can that he just hasn't had a free moment to write us! He’s okay right?” Sighing, Katara felt a ting of fear not hearing from Aang in so long and it scared her. Silently, she prayed, 

_ Spirits please keep our avatar safe, please help Aang. _

A time of peace and prosperity had spread across all lands so their travels were relatively easy-going so she pushed her fear backed choosing to be optimistic. 

“Yeah, he’s okay- I can feel it in my heart!” Sokka created a low flame fire and it burned slow. He fashioned a stick into a poker, turning the fish with it, roasting it perfectly on both sides.

Sokka's’ mouth watered as the smell of freshly grilled fish filled his senses. He leaned towards it ready when a loud, “HEY,” snapped him out of the trance he was in.

“Don’t you dare eat all that! I know that look- here,” Katara pulled two pieces of bark off the log they were sitting on and handed them to Sokka. Using a dagger her grandpa had gifted to her before she left, she cut the fish in the middle and utilizing the poker her brother had fashioned she placed one half on each of the pieces of bark. Handing one to him, Katara declared, “HERE! Now you may eat.” 

Sokka greedily grabbed for his piece and shoveled it into his face. Katara rolled her eyes at her brother, taking the more mature and sanitary approach; she picked her food thoughtfully, tasting the wild sweetness of the meat. Once more she was reminded of her home; the wholesomeness of eating with her mother and brother in their small hut warming their bellies and hearts. Tears came to her eyes and her will to find Aang and complete her family was renewed. 

“Hey, it’s alright we’ll find him and we’ll go off and save the world like we always do… well, like we did… do you know what I’m saying? Everything always turns out.” Sokka came to hug her tightly and her tears flowed ever more her heart was filled with joy and happiness, but most of all with love. She was hopeful and optimistic for the first time in what felt like ages. 

***********************************************************************************

“Master Aang, I believe I found the scroll you were requesting.” Said master looked up from his place in the center of the floor where he was gently floating a few feet off the floor. Various other scrolls and papers littered the ground around him, some pages curling slightly at the small breeze emanating from the ball of air he was sitting on. He turned with a bright smile.   


“Thanks a bunch Silverhair!” Aang hopped up with more grace than a 15 year old should have and grabbed the scroll out of her talons. The large Silkwing blocked most of the entryway of the room Aang had been cooped up in for the past week. Her horns were longer than most, curing at the ends and her coloring was more of a lilac color, the teal accents on her scales almost shimmering like the dew on a fresh morning leaf. Aang still had trouble sometimes with the fact that there were so many kinds of dragons and he could see all of them here in the hidden shelter of the Jade Mountain Academy. 

He unraveled the scroll and stared in wonderment at its contents. This was just what he had been looking for. The Secret Reports of Air. With this scroll, he had found the first clue in what would help him find what he had started looking for a year prior. He couldn’t help his grin from growing wider. This was it. 

This was how he was going to get the Queen’s treasures back.


	4. Chapter 4: KH

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haaahaa I was on vacation last week sooooooo anyways heres this chapter! :b

This wasn’t the first time Riku had started a world journey by free falling and something in him figured it wouldn’t be the last; but that didn’t mean it still didn’t scare the shit out of him. He could hear Sora and Lea whooping in excitement as they linked the chain and stabilized the group into a circle. The wind was rushing past his ears and he fought the want to close his eyes in fear. He wasn’t afraid of heights, in fact there was little that scared him nowadays, but something about uncontrollable falling made his mind scream and his heart pound. The things he put up with for his best friends.

They passed through the clouds sooner than he would have liked and suddenly all he could see was an endless expanse of ocean. For as much as he liked the sight of a shimmering sea, it didn’t quell his concern much. Being stranded in the middle of the ocean was Not Good. He was about to start yelling when Sora jerked their bodies to the right. As much as he disliked looking, Riku’s eyes followed the motion and noticed the islands coming into view. It didn’t make him feel much better in all honesty. Whether they landed on water or land, from this height it would hurt like a Bitch. His heart trusted Sora and that was all that mattered and the soulbond that connected him to both him and Kairi was nothing if not strong and steady. 

The wind was still howling strong enough that if any member of the party said anything, Riku couldn’t hear it. The island that they were aiming for was oddly very round and mysteriously tall, surrounded on all sides by a cylindrical cliff-face. Almost as if someone had dropped a huge log of wood right in the middle of the ocean. Riku couldn’t even begin to understand how it was being suspended, but he’d seen weirder things in his travels and he had to consider they just came from a magic floating castle in the sky.

If he was concerned before it was nothing compared to his feelings the closer to the island they fell. As far as he knew between the six of them, none of them could just straight up fly. Evident of them literally falling right now. Even if Sora had taught them how he managed to channel his magic into his feet to scale things vertically, that didn’t help here. He would have voiced his thoughts but… he spared a glance at Sora and was not surprised to find little care there. Of course he was having the time of his life. Oh god he was going to die. 

Just when he thought they were going to dive head first into a canopy of trees and break off of their limbs (yes, Curaga could fix almost everything, but there’s only so much that spell could handle- definitely couldn’t bring back the dead.) Sora did what Sora’s do best; he pulled up on Kairi and Lea’s arms, thus yanking up everyone else. Somehow, Riku watched as Sora pushed the air around them into circling his feet and efficiently slowing them down. But he wouldn’t be a master if he wasn’t able to learn on the fly, so he watched and tried his best to copy. He looked over to see that the others had gotten the memo as well and steadily they lost momentum. 

By the time they reached the tops of the trees, they were languidly falling and Riku could begin to calm his racing heart slightly. He could land on branches, or at least grab onto them. Unfortunately, that’s not what happened. 

They fell straight through the leaves. The overarching branches were just that. The trees had grown sideways off of the cliff face inwards leaving the top branches of the trees to interlock and create a deceptive canopy of leaves. Anyone passing over would assume it was a forest and not a hidden entrance. 

There was little time to think as they all hit a platform with considerable force and rolled into it, jumping back up with surprise. No one threw a keyblade out, but it was easy to tell everyone was tense. The round platform they had landed on was surrounded by four spires that, looking over the side, curled in a helix around a huge towering structure that seemed to be a repeating pattern of eleven other rounded platforms that gradually got larger. Behind them, a rather large throne stood with another smaller one to its right. Webbed stalagmites decorated with gems guarded the thrones and Riku could only imagine what rested there. They were even more extra than Xemnas’s stupid floating meeting chairs. His eyes extended from the inlaid and interlocking circular patterns on the floor to the cave walls, which were littered with large holes, some of which had water pouring out by the gallons. His thoughts were broken by the amazed voices of Roxas and Sora,

“ _Dragons!_ ” True to their word, Riku could see there were indeed dragons flying around in various shades of dark greens and blues. Riku didn’t know what he had been expecting, but they looked huge even from a distance which was only slightly concerning. They were like two Darksides put together- which only meant that they better be friendly because he certainly wouldn’t want to fight one. That thought was immediately shattered when two seaweed colored dragons with heavy armor landed in front of them baring their teeth. 

“Intruders! Who are you? Swamp! Go and alert the Queen!” The dragon apparently named ‘Swamp’ flew off quickly, while the other stood his ground. Riku glanced over and found his so called friends all looking at him expectantly. He had to fight to roll his eyes. He held his hands up in mock surrender.

“We’re not here to cause you any harm, we simply were looking for a place to land. We had no intention on encroaching on your territory.” The dragon merely snarled at his words. 

“Unlikely, just as the last group of scavengers said when they fell through moons ago!” Before Riku could retort, Sora was already exclaiming, 

“Others? Do you mean the other wielders came here too? Are they still here?” The dragon didn’t answer, but the sound of powerful wing beats overshadowed him as he stepped back. Another dragon landed in front of them, this one a dark blue with a row of glittering pearls around her neck connecting to another lighter and much smaller dragon. She had a air of authority and Riku grabbed his boyfriend and forced him into a bow, the others following quick in suit.

“I am Queen Coral. Who are you? Explain quickly or I’ll feed you to the tiger sharks.” Riku sent a look to his companions to shut up and took the helm.

“Greetings Your Majesty. My name is Master Riku and these are my partners, Masters, Sora and Kairi. The others are Wielders Lea, Roxas, and Xion.” He didn’t use his Master card often, but he really didn’t want to be eaten by sharks today. “We unintentionally landed in your kingdom, and we do not mean to disrupt anything. All we ask is for perhaps something to sail on and the way out, nothing more.” The Queen raised her snout at them in distaste, but her disposition changed when the youngling at her side addressed them. 

“You look like the other creatures that live quietly in one of the guest caves- are you friends?” The Queen was quick to shush the younger,

“Please, Anemone, keep quiet and stay away from these things.” She turned back to them however, “I stand by my daughters question. Answer.” Xion spoke up before the others could.

“If you speak of other Keyblade Masters and Wielders, we would be very grateful if you could take us to them. We did come down to find them-” The Queen growled and called for the guard from earlier.

“Get Shark- and send someone to get those things.” She moved gracefully for a creature of her size, moving to sit on the throne, the princess quietly sitting on the smaller one. “I did not trust the scavengers when they came down the first time so don’t expect me to trust you either. I’m bringing the other ones down here so you can hopefully convince them to leave. The are a persistent and annoying leach on my scales.” Sora had been inching closer as she had been talking and spoke up before anyone could stop him. 

“You can trust us! Our job is to protect others, and that means you guys too!” Queen Coral gave him a blank stare. Riku resisted the urge to facepalm. Looking at the other members of their party, they seemed to share the sentiment. Roxas was standing in front of Lea with his hands on his hips looking like he was ready to throw hands, while Lea looked incredibly uncomfortable. Xion was with Kairi holding her hand while they both looked between Sora and Riku, seemingly expecting a blow up. Riku moved to stand with Sora, putting a hand on his arm to calm him down and make him step back away from the Queen. 

“Sora is right, please take his enthusiasm as insurance that while we are here nothing will befall your Kingdom.” Queen Coral snorted at them.

“I have guards for that. I don’t need puny creatures like you.” Riku gave a rather sly smile at her worlds.

“Let’s just say we specialize in a different sort of threat.” The phrase seemed to have caught her attention, her head tilting in question. 

“Care to explain? Your little friends failed to ever mention what exactly they were Masters of- only that they also only cared to protect us. But they immediately sent most of their members off to the other kingdoms. Some protection three of you little worms would be!” Roxas laughed a little at her words and she turned to glare at him. 

“One Keyblade wielder is enough to protect one world alone- let alone a single kingdom! Hell- Sora has saved like over 30!” 

“ORDER!” Roxas at least had the decency to look sheepish at the others outburst. 

“What in Pyrrhia is a Keyblade?” Before anyone could answer another dragon landed with a loud thud. He was a dark teal green, with curling horns and a nasty snarl. They moved out of the way quickly as he thundered past and nearly squashed the girls. 

“Your Majesty. I see more of these disgusting creatures have fallen through the canopy. I will dispose of them along with the others as soon as possible. We have let them occupy here long enough. I-” The dragon was stopped with a simple wave of Queen Coral’s claws.

“Not yet Shark, this bunch seems more interested in talking- and I’m interested in what they have to say. Is Whirlpool on his way with the rest of them?” The other looked mildly angry, but said nothing against her. 

“Yes. He should be here any moment.” She nodded before turning back to look at Roxas.

“You were saying?” She smiled sweetly, though anyone with eyes could see that she wouldn’t hesitate to have them thrown out as Shark said. One look had Riku retreating; Sora was moving again, but this time with a rather determined glint in his eyes. They all knew that look. That was the ‘I’m going to win your friendship and loyalty whether you wanted it or not because I’m Master Sora and everyone is my friend or they die.’ look. 

“Queen Coral, I pray that you will never have to see any of us, or any of the other wielders for that matter, have to take out our Keyblades, but know this. They are a powerful weapon that few can wield and even fewer are bestowed to. It is our job to protect this world and others from Heartless and the like, if this world fell into darkness. You don’t have to like us, and to be honest, I’m not asking you to. Because I swear that no matter what, your kingdom and all the other kingdoms will always be safe.” Riku repressed the shiver from his worlds and he could tell that something had changed. The Queen’s face smoothed and her body shifted to a much less defensive posture. 

A sound in the air had them all turning to look as three more people jumped from one of the many holes in the cave walls and descended to the top platform. A man and two women landed gracefully, their long robes billowing around them. Simple belts cinched them at the waist, but a large cut from below down showed pants hidden underneath. The man looked to be older, one of the women seeming to be around the same age. Whereas the other was younger, though still close to ten years older than the trios. The older woman stepped closer and held out her hand. 

“Welcome. It seems Kamber’s scroll had some use afterall. My name is Erikell. This is my husband, the aforementioned Kamber, and our daughter, Norveh.” As Riku shook her hand, Kamber moved to meet them as well.

“It’s good to see that despite our absence, more Keyblade wielders have continued to persist.” Despite there being literal dragons around them, the trios moved to hear from other wielders.

“Persist?” Lea’s question seemed to bring a look of shame from the older two, Norveh stepping up for her parents.

“My parents ancestors are some of the few wielders who chose to run and seek out worlds to hide from the Keyblade War.” Kamber’s eyes hardened.

“They were cowards!” 

“They were heroes in their own right. Hundreds of wielders died in the Keyblade War and without wielders like your ancestors there wouldn’t have been the Guardians of the World Order. The worlds would have descended into darkness much faster without them.” They looked weary at Kairi’s words, but smiled all the same. 

“Well, if you’re here the worlds must not be in too much danger then, correct?” Erikell’s amber eyes were lit with hope and Lea was quick to give her a thumbs up.

“That’s right! We stopped the second Keyblade War! And a bunch of other nonsense too!” Their mouths opened in shock at his words looking between the six of them. 

“There was another war?”

“ _You_ stopped it?” 

Roxas wrapped his arm around Sora, shaking him a little. “Yep! And you’ve got this guy right here to thank! He did most of the heavy lifting-”

“Roxas that’s not true! You guys helped loads too! I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you guys!” Sora whined as the others laughed. Riku ruffled his hair and intertwined their fingers, bringing their hands up and pressing a kiss to the back of his hand, Kairi moving to do the same. 

“It was pretty much all you sunrise. I seem to recall you were the one to stop Ansem, and Xemnas, and Xehanort, and-” Sora squeezed his eyes shut, his face growing redder by the second. 

“Stop it! You’re embarrassing me!” Which only stood to make them laugh more. It wasn’t until another dragon, this one a sickly green with a gold earring and a smug look landed and Queen Coral spoke up again. 

“Ah, Whirlpool! Come here! It’s always a pleasure to see such a handsome face among all of these dreadful guppies. The little creatures were just telling me about how they have very powerful weapons and the little spiky brown one stopped a war all by himself!” Whirlpool moved to stand by the Queen and spun to gaze at the trios.

“I see- how interesting. Perhaps their multiplying could be useful. Tell me little ones, where do your loyalties lie?” They exchanged looks between them before Kairi spoke up.

“We stand with the safety of every creature big or small. We merely came down to learn more about this world and make sure everything was okay; and find other wielders of course.” Whirlpool looked skeptical and leaned down to look face to face with her.

“Come down from where I might ask?” The older wielders were shaking their heads, but Kairi moved along. 

“A castle, in the sky above your kingdom, just above the clouds. I can’t say that is where we’re from originally, but it is where we have been for a while.” The dragons laughter filled the cavern. 

“I can assure you! There is no ‘castle’ above the Kingdom of the Sea! We would have seen it!” Riku cringed as their laughter continued. Of course the Land of Departure was enchanted. Even after Aqua released her spell, collapsing Castle Oblivion, it seemed that some magic was still in place to keep it hidden from everyone else on this world. He sighed and placed a hand on Kairi’s shoulder, pulling her back.

“Listen. You can believe us or not- hell, you can take us back up there and we’ll show you if you want, but we have to venture to the other kingdoms first. Every dragon’s safety is important and Heartless can appear anywhere.” It seemed that Riku had their undivided attention so he took this as his chance to keep it. “If the Land of Departure is truly hidden to every dragon as well, we extend the offer that if there is something precious that you don’t want anyone else to get, we could take it with us for safekeeping- we will return to the Kingdom of the Sea after we visit and give the same offer to the other kingdoms.” Queen Coral and Whirlpool shared a look, murmurs from the other Seawings bouncing off the cave walls. 

“My Queen, I do believe with Blister, Blaze, and Burn- perhaps you might consider-” Shark was silenced again with a wave of her claws.

“I will consult the counsel and we will discuss this when you return. I will need proof that this so called ‘Land of Departure’ exists firstly.” Xion moved forward and bowed.

“While we gather where we will go from here, I volunteer to take a strong willed individual to the castle. I suggest your most trusted and worthy adversary.” The Queen seemed to nod at her words before smiling at Whirlpool. 

“Of course; Whirlpool, my most trusted counselor of magic and publishing, you will take the little clam.” With a deep and over exaggerated bow, Whirlpool grinned back and held out a taloned and webbed hand to Xion. She took it gracefully before looking back at the rest of the group. 

“If we’re not back in 30 minutes you have permission to send sea-salt after me and destiny- fuck them up.” She smiled a candy sweet smile before flipping onto the dragons back and placing her hand on the scales of his neck. Riku could see the small sparks of Thundaga rolling on her fingers. Whirlpool flinched and shot up, shooting through the canopy with a howl. Queen Coral turned violently and snarled at them.

“What did she do to him?!” Riku smiled, stepping up to the Queen, the small ball of dark magic from Graviga growing in his hand. Behind him Kairi stood with Blizzaga icing her fingers, Sora’s hair growing wild with Aeroga. Lea was grinning maniacally with Firaga beginning to flicker in his hand and Roxas crackling with Thundaga, his hair lighting up like the lightning in a storm. 

“We know a bit of magic too.” 


	5. Chapter 5: SPN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yee yee enjoy! this one is fun ngl I love writing battle scenes :333333

To say that Castiel had disappeared, that he was before them no more, was decidedly untrue. He simply had the ability to not only fly, but camouflage against his background to seemingly become invisible. There were many things about him and his past that the brothers didn’t understand or know about and Castiel was planning on keeping it that way as long as he could; though with these developments, it surely wouldn’t be for much longer. As it was, his wings could be any color he wanted them too, and on that basis, they were invisible to the naked eye. But he much preferred black, like a Nightwing, with glittering stars in between the folds. However, he remained invisible as he flew up and through the open window of one of the glass panels of the dome that held light above the bunker. 

He had a lot of work to do if he was going to gather the materials he needed for the spell. The materials were few, but they spread out across all the nations and some were more difficult to obtain than others. It’s not that he didn’t trust Sam or Dean to collect the materials, but they were not only human, but nonbenders as well. It would take too much time. 

The Airbender had unsurprisingly stopped the war, unfortunately taking down the pride of the Fire Nation while he was at it, but he had disappeared again a few short years after. Castiel didn’t care for him much, and calling him a friend was a stretch, but he had met him in passing once and could tell even briefly of the power he held. There was an unspoken understanding that when he disappeared again that he would stay that way, and Castiel knew of the rumors among the Fire Nation. It wasn’t that Zuko was a bad ruler, but the way he went about things were a little too diplomatic for many that still lived in the Fire Nation. Just because one ruler went down didn’t mean that the Fire Nation had to stop in its conquest, especially since the Avatar had already taken leave. 

Castiel made the trip across the mountains into the Fire Nation often to talk further about such matters, but for once that wasn’t his reasoning for the trip. Two of the materials for the spell could be found here. For all of the Nation’s limited space, they had made up for it in buildings that towered upwards and made for easy landing. It was easy to spot the old crumbling walls of Burn’s stronghold, the decapitated dragon heads rotting atop spears still lining the walls in places. It was a nasty sight but despite it all, Castiel knew that the citizens of the Nation took odd pride in it. 

Despite Zuko’s rule, his diplomacy, there were things that even he didn’t know about. Things that perhaps his own grandfather was one of the only ones to know of. But Castiel had ways of getting what he wanted; always had- and not even the deepest closely guarded secrets were unknown to him. So while Lord Zuko didn’t know of the Airbenders held prisoner in the forgotten towers of the stronghold; he did. 

The Sandwings that stood guard at the entrance of the stronghold were typical and boring in Castiel’s opinion. He landed nonetheless and made sure to make his wings a visible black and in a slightly defensive open position. While his clothes were no longer obvious in color, his glare was enough to signify he was no outsider and the dragons did not challenge him as he walked past. He made his way through the open courtyards and various sandpits, past the tall tower that belonged to Burn, and through the maze to the Weirdling Collection; a tower of windowless red sandstone. 

Once it had held the likes of Queen Scarlet, a dragonet of prophecy, others perhaps, but now its prisoners were much smaller. Scavengers the Sandwings called them. Airbenders to the rest of the nation. Monks and random citizens alike. Anyone that survived were brought here and here they remained. Many too old to fight anymore, some who’s bodies decayed against the walls. The whole stronghold smelled of death as it probably always had, and probably always will. The mirrors hung in various places along the walls tinting light from the fire that hung in baskets from the ceiling towards the whole tower. Castiel began his climb up the winding ramp that hugged the walls and curled upwards with alcoves carved out for what used to be mysterious displays of deformities in dragon extremities. Now they simply held the Airbenders, chained to the walls in very limited space. It didn’t really matter who he chose, but there was one in particular that he remembered from the last time he had visited this tower. When he halted, the man who sat before him didn’t so much as look up. 

“Garth. Look at me.” Still, the man didn’t move. It wasn’t until Castiel crouched down and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder did he flinch and look up. 

“Ah-h- hello Castiel…. I, um, what can I do for you…?” Garth was a small man, and he had a perpetual shake to him. He was not what one would expect from a bender, lest of all Air. that was part of the reason that Castiel had spoken to him the first time around, thinking it was a god honest mistake. And Garth, for all his honesty, said no; it wasn’t. A soft breeze flitted around them as Castiel’s grip tightened. Garth let out a cry of pain. 

“There is only one person in this tower that I trust to do this; and that’s you Garth. Pitiful, but an Airbender nonetheless.” Castiel let go and stood quickly, a handful of sand from the tower’s walls clutched tight. It was like second nature to let the heat of his body pool in his palm, until is was so scorching that Garth flinched backwards at the waves of heat. The sand melted quickly and Castiel worked in quick succession to mold and shape it. Soon a small glass vile had spun around his fingers and Castiel simply held it out for the air of the tower to cool it.

He had chosen Garth particularly because he was too timid and skittish to ever act against him in anyway that would be detrimental. This still stood true as Castiel moved again, the wind in his wings and grabbed Garth’s hand, yanking his whole arm up. The silver blade that he kept on him at all times slid into his grasp easily and he wasted no time slicing a large gash along Garth’s palm. Castiel ignored the whimpers from the other and let the blood pour evenly into the vile. He closed it off with another pinch of heat, and quickly pressed his finger across the gash. Garth screamed in agony before Castiel dropped him to the floor. 

“Be thankful. I care enough to cauterize it so it wont get infected.” Garth didn’t answer over the wails of pain as Castiel walked away and out the tower door.  _ Blood of the Nation  _ had been obtained. 

He made it to the main gate of the stronghold and spared a glance at the guards still on duty. They were easily 4 times as tall and 5 times as wide as him. Not an easy feat by any means; but he needed that barb. Specifically the venom from inside the scorpion like tail. Castiel could feel the eyes of various citizens watching him out of the corners of their eyes. His bloodlust must be too obvious. In the blink he vanished, heads turning in surprise. His smile widened at that. Those who knew him, knew to fear him and those who didn’t were about to learn. 

The Sandwings on guard, named Dusting and Strike were none the wiser until it was too late. Dusting shook and shouted in pain. When Strike turned spear lowered in defense he didn’t have time to gape at the blood spilling out and pooling at the base of Dusting’s tail, where his barb had been sheared clean off. He didn’t see the attacker, which is why when balls of fire rammed him from all sides knocking him off balance, he didn’t have time to even shout before something small rammed itself under his scales near his heart. The blade became unbearably hot and seared his skin from the inside while it was pushed deeper and deeper. Flames licking the sides of his face, so white hot that he felt his scales begin to melt. Dusting watched in adjunct horror as his friend was melted alive in front of him. He made the mistake of stepping backwards and losing his balance, his eyes watering as a figure shimmered and appeared. Wings black as pitch raised from such a small creature, the flames of hell lapping at his fingertips. He had no time to scream before Strike’s own spear was rammed up, molten at the tip, through his skull. The blood that painted the ground reflected the flames of the corpses as Castiel seemingly walked on glass fire. He smiled.  _ Venom of a Sandwing  _ obtained. 

The crowd watched on, cheers of excitement rang out among them. The Dragon of Heavenly Fire still walks. But, as soon as he had appeared, he disappeared again, though Castiel flew with the praise of his people on his wings. They shimmered red and gold. 

From there he flew north. For others it might have taken weeks to travel the distance, but Castiel was incredibly fast and not traveling by boat or horse. For him it took only a matter of hours to reach were the land became ice. He dared not enter the Northern Water tribes lands and instead followed the sound of children’s laughter. He thanked whatever power granted him a quick find and wasted no time capturing his prey.  _ Feathers of a PenguinSeal  _ obtained. He briefly wondered what Dean and his brother were up to.

(Sam was going through inventory. Dean was napping.) 

Castiel moved more languidly back into the Earth Kingdom’s territory and took his time before landing in the forests, reveling in that feeling of letting his wings stretch. It was a daily battle to keep face with Dean, whom he did actually care deeply for, yet still kept at a distance that left Dean constantly asking for more. Under other circumstances he would have given into the surrounded northern parts of the kingdom. He lay in the temptation, but Dean was- different. The brothers had found him, at his lowest point he’d wager, and carefully washed the blood of his past away and gave him a new start. It wasn’t for Castiel’s lack of trying; he really would much rather leave it all behind. But there was something that always had him falling back right back into the flames of the Fire Nation. Something that had him folding his wings and leaving the brothers in the dark. He wasn’t guilty of the things he’d done, though he knew he should be. He wasn’t ashamed either. When it came down to it, he was at an understanding that he was fundamentally bad, and was intentionally lying about being good. And that was all about to fall apart. It was a shame too, of what he would have to do to Dean. He really did like him a lot. 

From the trees he reached a clearing with a small pond. Early morning sun was just breaking and the waters were teeming with life. A willow stood and its branches extended over just barely touching the surface of the water. What caught his eye however was the brilliant spindle webs that hung from the leaves of the trees over the pool, dew collecting in small droplets on the careful lines. they glinted in the light almost as if they were made of glass. Castiel’s eyes followed the movement to a small alcove he hadn’t noticed at first glance. Softly he lifted and moved over the gentle waters to the cave. Inside to no surprise, a Silkwing rested. They were a periwinkle color, the darker blues of their wings and underbelly offset by pale greens. It was only a moment more before piercing goldenrod eyes narrowed on him. 

“Whatever you are looking for scavenger, it is not here. There is death that lingers on your persons; I will take no part in your existence.” Castiel merely cocked his head at the dragon. 

“What is your name dragon?” The dragon tilted it’s head in question back. Air rushed in a snort from its nostrils.

“I have no namesake and I shant take one in future comeith.” Castiel stepped closer still.

“You speak in ol tounge, therefore you must be a dragon of old. You are no Nightwing, but you can read my mind all the same; you know why I am here.” Still the dragon did not move. It’s gaze was unwavering. 

“Creatures that find their beings here are often searching for different things.” Castiel had reached the dragons great claws. He did not break his gaze either. 

“Your silk am what I am after. Simply gift me some and I will leave.” It’s massive but graceful head shook.

“What are you prepared to giveth in payment? You cannot simply take without placing the scales of equivalent exchange in balance.” Castiel paused. He didn’t really have anything. He could try and kill this dragon like the others, Silkwings are notorious for being on the softer side of the dragon breeds after all. But there was something about this dragon’s presence. It was much older than any other beast he had met thus far and for some reason he doubted his ability to camouflage from it. The golden iris’ seemed to see through him. It was concerning to say the least. 

“What do you want that I could give you?” Eyes sharpened. 

“A word.” Castiel paused. 

“A word?” 

“The spoken, the thought, the felt. The breath that forms the wave. I am an endless means to taketh and giveth but a word. The word I want from you is  **_Loyalties_ ** .” Castiel felt something within him light, like the spark that ignited each time he Bended. 

“And if I give you this word? You give me your silk and then what happens.” The dragon’s eyes got impossibly larger, it’s grin growing so wide that Castiel could see every tooth. 

“Perhaps nothing at all, perchance the cost of your whole existence stretched to the pixies hair of a string. It all depends on  _ you  _ and the actions you take.” 

That was the thing about dragons. Not all of them were cryptic, in fact most of them weren’t. But the few that were, were incredibly rare and hard to find and always the most important. Castiel couldn’t risk trying to find another Silkwing, their numbers dwindling. And what did he need with a word like loyalties? He wasn’t loyal to anyone but himself. He could do without it; whatever that meant. 

“Then the word it yours. You have my Loyalties.” 

“Then you have my Silk,  _ Halfling. _ “ As his hands wrapped around the bundles of silk from the dragon’s glands from beneath it’s wrist, Castiel flinched. He wasted no time leaving the cave and with a few powerful wingbeats, shot away from the quiet desolate and untouched pond.  _ Silk of a Silkwing  _ obtained. 

Comparatively, it took little time to reach a settlement to take rest. He didn’t necessarily need it, but there was one item left on his list to find. He needed to find a Earthbender, which considering how wide the territory of the Earth Kingdom stretched, wouldn’t be difficult. The matter was more-so finding one to do what he needed. It was an odd request and if he went into any larger settlements, he would surely be recognized. He would have to stick to the outskirts. Castiel vaguely wished that the brothers weren’t both non-benders, and that one of them had at least the namesake powers of the nation they inhabited. It would have certainly made their lives easier many times over. 

The village he found was small; only a dozen or so buildings. They were typical and didn’t stand out much and Castiel was surprised when he wasn’t stopped at the entrance. There didn’t seem to be any guards, which usually meant that the village was either heavily armed or had more than one masterful benders. He slowly made his way to the main building, folding his wings in and camouflaging them. There was no need to make them suspicious, and word was known to travel fast in the Earth Kingdom. If the news got back to Sam and Dean that there was some sort of winged beast that had breached, they would want to hunt it down; Castiel wasn’t looking to fight them anytime soon if he could avoid it. 

If the citizens disproved of him being here, they didn’t say anything. They looked oddly at his bland choice of clothes; a simple tunic and pants of no discernible nations color, a heavy cloak overladen with a small knapsack. They must have assumed that he was a non-bender, as most did, and continued about their daily business. Castiel smiled. He would be lying if he didn’t love how this always played into his favor in battles, though he was always careful to be out of sight of the brothers when he bended. He entered the low-roofed building and when he saw a small counsel table he bowed deeply.

“Pardon my intrusion, but is there a Earthbender present in this village that I could talk to?” He spoke with clear diction and purpose. He didn’t want to be here any longer than he had too. The day was reaching sun-down and he rather liked the idea of being back home before the sun fully set behind the mountains. An older looking gentleman nodded and gestured to the inhabitants of the meeting table. 

“We are all benders here, ask what you will young man.” Castiel nodded and folded his hands in the most non-threatening way he could. 

“One of my brothers is terribly ill and the spell that my village uses for such an illness requires a bowl molded from an Earthbender, but the only benders in the village have left on a pilgrimage to one of the larger cities for teachings. I would be forever grateful if one of you could craft me a simple bowl so that I may heal him.” The gazes of the men and women around the table softened at his words. Castiel tried not to look too pleased with his innate ability to lie straight through his teeth. It was a lie he was well versed in into getting what he wanted from people. 

“Very well; Mapha will you assist him quickly so we may get back to the meeting at hand?” A woman stood and nodded as Castiel bowed low again. They stepped out quickly and she stared unamused at him. 

“What size do you need it to be?” Her words were clipped and Castiel took note.

“Around six to seven inches wide-” She moved her gaze to the ground beneath their feet and moved her hands gracefully upwards. The earth moved as if it was water in a stream, almost as sand, though made of much harder material. It took shape quickly and soon a small bowl floated gently into her hands. She handed it over, but before she let go she eyed him questionably. 

“I know you were lying, even if the rest of the counsel was fooled. If this is for anything that will cause harm to anyone I will hunt you down and kill you myself.” Castiel returned her stony gaze. 

“It is not to harm anyone, but if you do come after me- I’d like to see you try; you would not be the first and you most certainly won’t be the last. Whatever she saw in his eyes, his white hot conviction maybe, it scared her enough to let go of the bowl. He watched her carefully as he backed up and didn’t remove his gaze until he felt his wings move his cloak aside, and powerfully push him high up into the air. He didn’t need to watch to feel her shock on him as he swiftly rode the gale back towards his wayward new home. 

Sam had retired to bed while Dean stayed awake. The arrow still glowed from the sheet of paper on the table while he filtered through various scrolls of text from the bunker. He hadn’t had any luck so far in finding any information about it, though it was vaguely familiar. He had a feeling that he had definitely seen it before, but on what he couldn’t recall. Most affairs that involved strange symbols he left to Cas. He handled bender stuff while he and Sam focused on everything else. There were too many villages out there with no bender protection that were being attacked by a wide selection of supernatural creatures. He didn’t know much about the war against the Fire Nation that had finally ended, staying out of it as much as he possibly could since involving him or his brother would surely get themselves killed. They were only human after all. 

So it was no shock his surprise when he turned the page in the history book he’d been flipping though when he found the same arrow shaped symbol. Air Nomads… He had no time to read anything else when large wind gusts blew papers over on the table and a figure dropped in from the window in the ceiling.

“Cas!” 


End file.
